by Ava Miles
The infernal squeaking of the spinner made him wince. Finally Old Man Jenkins called a stop and grabbed a can of WD-40, which fortunately put a stop to the sound.
“We’ve had that spinner for at least thirty years,” his uncle said. “No one wants to throw it away. It’s an antique.”
“Exactly,” Farley Johnson agreed as another number was called. “When Antiques Roadshow comes to Denver, we should see if it’s worth any money.”
“Hurrah,” a few of the players agreed.
When the next combination was called out—D40—Matt smiled and reached for another chip.
“Bingo,” a woman yelled out and then pushed back from her chair, grabbing her cane. Old Man Jenkins handed her an envelope when she reached the front of the room.
“What’s the prize?” Matt asked.
“Five dollars,” his uncle said. “It used to buy you coffee and a donut at Kemstead’s Bakery, but now it will barely buy you a cup of coffee. Certainly not at my granddaughter’s establishment with all her fruit- and nut-flavored mumbo jumbo. Good heavens, I’ll never understand why people want to put all that crap in a cup of Joe.”
Matt had been around long enough to know how much bluster his uncle dished out about Don’t Soy with Me. It was all part of the banter between him and Jill.
“Most of the people here are on fixed incomes, Matt,” Joanie told him, “so at least it’s something.”
“And where does the money come from?” he followed up.
“A fundraiser we do through the Knights of Columbus. The tootsie roll drive is very popular, and most of us buy a ton for our grandchildren.”
“And how many grandkids do you have?” He didn’t feel comfortable calling her Joanie, but he didn’t know her last name.
“Eight. All right here in Dare. It’s an incredible blessing to have a big family, but you know that. Your mom is an angel. I’m glad to have her back in town. I was her third-grade teacher.”
He turned to give her his full attention now, not caring about the next combination. “You were?”
Her smile was soft. “She was a good student. Even then she was a mother hen. I remember because she’d help me redo the ponytails of the girls who’d swing at recess. I should have guessed she’d have a big family. Matt, dear, Old Man Jenkins called F13. Put your chip down. You never know. You just might win.” And then she winked at him.
He didn’t win that round or the next, but he quickly fell under the spell of Joanie Perkins. He’d finally asked for her last name and more stories about his mom in school.
By the time the fourth round of Bingo came around, he was starting to think this whole running for mayor thing was going to be great. These people were fun to be around. Yeah, it wasn’t his normal scene, but what in the heck was? His scene in Denver had been his office, an assortment of conference rooms, court, the gym, and home.
Time to be a bit more broad-minded, Hale.
“So, you’re seeing a new girl?” Farley asked him from across the table in between spins. “Jane, is it?”
The chip he held bounced across the table as his fingers went suddenly lax. Joanie slid it to him and patted his hand.
“Yes, Jane Wilcox.” And just like that, all eyes focused on him as though he were under cross-examination.
“Where is she from originally?” Farley continued. “Other than working at The Grand Mountain Hotel and for Rhett Butler Blaylock, we don’t know much about her.”
The urge to loosen his tie was suddenly overwhelming. But he was used to being in uncomfortable situations, so he did what came naturally: he danced around the question like he would if something he couldn’t discuss came up in court.
“Well, I can tell you she’s as pretty and sweet as Joanie here, and that she means a lot to me.” And he put his arm around Joanie for good measure.
Uncle Arthur nudged him again in the ribs. “Now, none of that. We don’t allow any PDA at Bingo night. Cripes, Farley, do you remember when Kurt Walters and Rosaline Yonker made out in the hallway by the bathroom last year? Those two needed to get a room. Shocking at that age. No one should have ever told Kurt about Viagra.”
“Every woman in Dare had to watch him after that,” Joanie said and clucked under her breath. “Just appalling.”
It might have been amusing if Matt hadn’t been holding his breath, hoping the inquisition about Jane was over. Fortunately, they moved on to the topic of the new stoplight at the edge of town.
But he caught his uncle’s loaded stare before Uncle Arthur looked back at his sheet and shouted, “Bingo.”
“I’ll get your prize, Uncle,” he told him and pushed his chair back, wanting a little space from the table.
When he went up to the stage, Old Man Jenkins smiled at him and shook his hand before giving him the envelope. He returned to the table, earning another sweet smile from Joanie. He decided then and there to adopt her as his second grandmother and leaned in to tell her so, earning himself a half hug.
“You’re a sweet boy, Matt. If you mind your Ps and Qs, you’ve earned at least one voter tonight.”
Her comment made him wonder how many others felt the same way. Well, time would tell. And as Rob told him, it started with one person, one room.
“Thank you. I’m honored.”
When the game finished at eight o’clock, it took another forty minutes to say goodbye to everyone. Bingo, he realized, was probably one of the only ways some of these people connected with others. They didn’t have offices to attend. Their children were grown and gone. Many had lost their spouses.
This was community personified, and he was glad his uncle had brought him.
When they were finally situated in his car, heading to Uncle Arthur’s house, his uncle finally broke the silence. “I’m giving you my five dollars tonight.”
“Why?” he asked.
“It’s my contribution for you to hire a better political consultant. That one from Denver isn’t worth spit.”
“Why would you say that?” Matt looked over sharply. “What did I do?”
“Sonny, next time someone asks you, you’d better be able to give a better spiel about your girlfriend. And trust me, they’re going to ask.”
Shit. “I realize that. We haven’t…talked about what I can share about her. I don’t want her to be involved in the campaign.” He thought of how scared she was about the whole thing, how it dredged up the past she’d been running from for years.
“Do you love her?” Uncle Arthur asked with his usual directness. “Your mother seems to think so.”
He hadn’t talked to his mom about it, but she always seemed to know how he was feeling. “Yes, I love her.”
“Then she’s involved. This is a small town, and people are going to want to know all about her. Where she comes from. Who her people are.”
His iron grip on the steering wheel didn’t help him simmer down. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
But it was what Rob and Jane had tried to tell him. And now Uncle Arthur too. All people he trusted.
“You can keep your five dollars,” he said. “My political consultant told me exactly what you just said. Jane did too, by the way. She said I was naïve to think her story wouldn’t matter.”
“Smart girl,” his uncle mused. “Didn’t expect you to fall for a dumb one, but this new generation…”
They drove in silence the rest of the way. The moon was a crescent, making the snow look like a pile of white cotton candy. When they arrived, he put a hand on Uncle Arthur’s.
“I’ll see you to the door. My parents raised me to be a gentleman,” he added to take the sting off his uncle’s pride. Still, he wasn’t about to risk that the older man would fall on the ice.
As he stepped out of the driver’s seat and around the car, he heard his uncle fuming, and he was treated with a venomous glance when he opened the passenger-side door.
“If you try and lay one on me, I’m going to beat you with my cane.”
“Sorry,” he said
, holding his hands up. “I don’t kiss on the first date.”
Finally, his uncle laughed and exited the car. Matt didn’t take his arm, but he was poised to catch him if he slipped.
“That Joanie sure is sweet,” he mused. “If I were your age, I’d totally go for her.”
At the door, his uncle pushed up his glasses on his nose and leveled him a glance. “And what makes you think I haven’t gone for her?”
Well, that pretty much made him tongue-tied.
“We’ve known each other all our lives and both of us were married to our great loves. But we’re friends. And now that our spouses are gone, well, there’s some comfort in being together.”
Matt could only nod at that.
“Bring your girl by for dinner next week,” his uncle said, unlocking the door.
Arthur one-on-one with Jane? Ever the reporter, his uncle would ask more questions than a nightly news anchor.
“I’m starting my meetings with all the community organizations. Every night is booked solid.” It wasn’t completely a fib.
“I’m not asking, Young Matthew. I hear Tanner is going to be running an article on you. He hasn’t let me see it yet, blast him. Said he didn’t want my blood pressure to rise since he knows how I feel about the neutrality of The Western Independent.”
He and Tanner had sat down at his house for the interview. His cousin-in-law’s questions had been insightful, particularly when they’d talked about Patricia’s case. Matt knew he could trust Tanner to portray their conversation accurately.
“He’s a good guy,” he told his uncle. “Meredith’s lucky to have him.”
“Aiya,” his uncle said.
“And you’re lucky to have him at the paper too,” he added.
“The next generation,” his uncle mused, taking hold of his arm at last. “It’s not all bad. Goodnight, Young Matthew. Other than the Jane incident tonight, you did very well. Heck, you might actually make a good mayor.”
“Good night, Uncle Arthur,” he said with a small smile as the door closed.
So, he had done well tonight.
Right up until the questions about Jane.
They were going to have to talk about that issue and soon.
He looked at his watch as he strode back to his SUV. She was on her way back from a big poker tournament in Cabo. Rhett had won, and it had been so fun to listen to Jane’s play-by-play of the event when they’d talked last night. She’d trusted him to care for Rufus after insisting he could handle it, and he had to admit that her dog made him think he was an awesome pet owner. Henry remained the errant child in the family, making him pull out his hair, but he and Rufus had gotten along like old friends.
He texted her.
Are you home yet? I miss you.
She immediately texted back.
Almost. Miss you too. Can you come tonight? Can’t wait.
A bolt of arousal shot through him at that.
Me either. Heading your way.
Bring Henry and Rufus with you.
His fingers punched in the message, Yes, Mom.
LOL. See you soon. Can’t wait to hear about Bingo.
Yeah, she would say that. While she didn’t want to be involved in his campaign, she always asked about it. And it wasn’t just because she thought she should. She really listened, and sometimes made inventive suggestions.
But he remembered those questions he’d been asked at Bingo, and a cloud hung over him as he drove home to pick up the dogs.
Chapter 21
When Elizabeth pulled into Jane’s driveway, Annie gave a bark from the backseat. Yeah, Jane was happy to be home, particularly since she knew Matt was coming over to give her a proper homecoming. She rubbed her arms, letting herself revel in the feeling.
She let Annie outside, and the dog hurried off to do her business.
“I’ll help you with your stuff,” Elizabeth said, putting the car in park.
“Why don’t you come inside for a little while and have a glass of wine? We can celebrate our first major tourney in our new roles.”
Even though part of her wanted Matt all to herself, she desperately wanted her best friend to get to know him too. Elizabeth had turned down every invitation to hang out with them so far, always citing a date. While she was popular with the single men in Dare Valley, she wasn’t that popular.
“Okay, just for a sec,” she agreed and grabbed Annie’s crate in the back while Jane lugged out her suitcase.
“God, do you remember how much luggage we used to have to haul to tourneys? This was the first trip I wasn’t over the limit.”
They both laughed as they headed inside, Annie following behind with a jaunty walk. The house was nice and toasty thanks to her remote temperature control. Whoever had invented that—a woman, she’d bet—should win a Nobel Prize or something. All they needed now was a fire and a good bottle of wine.
After stowing her luggage in her bedroom, she selected a 1997 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, taking out only two wine glasses for the moment. Elizabeth would be onto her ploy if she brought three.
“So,” she said, pulling her feet underneath her on the couch as the fire she’d lit flickered to life. “How do you feel about the weekend?”
“Cheers, by the way,” Elizabeth said.
“Cheers.”
“To answer your question, I have to say things went swimmingly.”
“Swimmingly,” she said in her best British accent, causing Elizabeth to snort her wine.
“Cut it out. You know what I mean. We didn’t need to waste hours getting dolled up. And it made a huge difference for Rhett’s social media platform for me to be tweeting throughout the tourney. And asking Rye and Rhett to take selfies for me to post didn’t hurt. The fans went crazy. It exceeded my expectations.”
“And of course, Annie was a big hit. And everyone seemed to respond well to Rhett’s new look.”
It was hard not to miss the changes in their friend, from the toned-down clothes—he was buttoning up his shirts fully now—to his calmer demeanor at the table, and there had been any number of comments about it. Of course, he still hung out with the other guys and bought everyone a round of drinks after a day of hard play. But all of the poker babe action was gone, and he’d probably slept more at this tourney than any he’d ever played in before pursuing Abbie.
“Of course, he drove me nuts by talking about Abbie the whole time,” Elizabeth said. “I never imagined seeing him like this.”
Which is why Jane hadn’t talked about missing Matt. She knew her friend was still adjusting to the way their circle was expanding and changing.
The sound of tires crunching snow announced Matt’s arrival, and Elizabeth immediately narrowed her eyes at her. “You little trickster,” she said, standing. “I should have known something was up when you invited me inside. I’m outta here.”
Jane jumped up and grabbed her arm. “Please stay, I want you to get to know him. At least finish your wine.”
“Another time,” she said and reached for her coat.
“Please, Elizabeth. This is important to me.”
“I know, but not tonight.”
A dark thought suddenly filtered into her mind. “You don’t think we’re going to last, do you?”
Her friend shook her head. “No, I’m afraid you’re going to discover that being with him long-term means returning to what you hate, being a politician’s accoutrement. I think this whole thing will break you in pieces…”
Jane’s breath sucked in as the punch landed in her stomach. “You’re wrong. I’m not going to be involved with his campaign.” But she was lying to herself to think it could be that simple.
Elizabeth hugged her then. “You will be. You know it. And so do I. Think of what will happen if you end up marrying him…”
I’ll become my mother, she thought. “No, it will be different. Matt’s different, and so am I.”
Her friend tugged her gloves on and picked up her oversized Gucci bag. “I hope so because
all I see is heartache for you, Jane, but I promise I’ll be there for you no matter what.”
There was a raucous bark from the other side of the front door and Annie trotted over, her tail wagging like a hummingbird in flight.
“I love you, Liz, but you’re really pissing me off.”
“Then I guess it’s better for me not to pretend I want to get to know Matt. I’ll talk to you later.”
Elizabeth opened the door, and Matt’s grin faded when he registered the look on her face. “Hi, Elizabeth. How was your trip?”
Henry gave a bark, and Jane immediately disciplined him. Rufus wagged his tail and then nuzzled Annie in greeting.
“It was great,” her friend replied. “I was just helping Jane with her luggage. You two have fun.” And she sailed out the door without another word.
Rufus headed straight for Jane, and she leaned down and let him nuzzle her face, her thoughts troubled.
“You’re frowning,” Matt said, keeping a hand on Henry’s collar as he shut the door behind him.
“Yes, Elizabeth means well, but she’s ticking me off.” She stood, and Rufus and Annie leaned against each other in greeting again, a sight that instantly warmed her heart. Crossing over to Matt and putting her hands around his waist warmed it even more. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he said, his gaze falling to her mouth.
“Let Henry go,” she said. “He’s going to be a good dog, aren’t you, boy?” And, sure enough, when Matt let him go, he just sat right there beside him.
“If I didn’t want to kiss you so badly, I would be in awe of your ability to make him chill.”
“What’s stopping you?” she asked, rising on her tiptoes and pressing a kiss to that strong, freshly shaved chin.
“I was going to be a nice guy and ask you more about your trip.”
Oh, how that intention set her heart aflame in her chest. “Please don’t. We can talk later. Right now, I just want to be with you.”
His blue eyes stared into hers, as endless and fathomless as the sky after sunset, and then he pressed her to him, the hard line of his body adding to the heat of their embrace.
“You asked for it.”
He fitted his mouth to hers and gave her the sweetest, hottest kiss of her life. When she was gasping for breath, he moved his delectable mouth down her neck. She put her hands on his shoulders, and he hoisted her up so their mouths were level. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she tangled her hands in his thick hair and poured out how much she’d missed him.